Nearly two centuries ago, the Jesuits in China seeing how necessary the protection of the government was for their propagandism, made a number of things to amuse and excite the curiosity of the emperor _Kang-hi_. One of their inventions resembled the modern locomotive, though on the Ericsson plan; it was made, like the locomotive presented to the emperor of Japan, at Yokohama, to run in a circle also. In the large old folio history of China, from the French of Du Halde, printed in London one hundred and nineteen years ago (a copy of which is in the possession of John V. L. M’Mahon, Esq., of Baltimore), I find the following:—
“The Pneumatick Machines also, did not less excite the Emperor’s curiosity:
“They caused a Waggon to be made of light Wood about two Foot long: in the middle of it they placed a Brazen Vessel full of _live_ coals, and upon that an Æolipile, the wind of which came down through a little Pipe upon a sort of a wheel made like the sails of a Wind mill; this little wheel turned another with an Axle tree, and by that means set the Waggon in Motion for two hours together. But lest room should be wanting to proceed constantly forward it was contrived to move circularly.”
Negotiations having progressed harmoniously, on the 13th of March launches were sent alongside of the storeships, and the presents for the Japanese being put in them, the captain of the Macedonian with a suite of officers, pulled ashore, and delivered them _pro forma_ to the authorities. They were afterward pleasantly entertained by them. The Japanese must have formed a rather exaggerated opinion of the quantity of the presents intended for them by the Americans—judging from the size of the room set apart for their reception. They were given to understand that these were tokens of amity, not a tribute.
The presents for the emperor consisted of, among other things:—
A railway with steam-engine; a magnetic telegraph; a surf-boat; a life-boat; a printing-press; a fine lorgnette; a set of Audubon’s American Ornithology, splendidly bound; plates of American Indians; maps of different states of America; agricultural implements, with all the modern improvements; a piece of cloth; a bale of cotton; a stove; rifles, pistols, and swords; champagne, cordials, and American whiskey.