A private journal of John Glendy Sproston, U.S.N

John Glendy Sproston served as officer aboard the U.S.S. Macedonian, frigate in the fleet of the first Perry expedition to Japan. From Japan the ship was ordered by Commodore Perry to visit the Ryukyus, Bonin Islands, Formosa and the Philippines. His careful and accurate accounts of what occured along the way from Tokyo to Manila cover the few eventful months between 15 February 1854 and August of the same year. Sproston's highly personal observations and comments provide a more lively description of the signing of the Perry Treaty than that found in Perry's own staid Narrative, and furnish a dramatic narrative of Perry's attempt to force his way up to Edo. He goes on to describe the quaint sights and oddities of Shimoda and Hakodate, and his adventures ashore in Formosa and Manila. His remarks are constantly interspersed with a good humor and a philosophical bent one would expect from a man lounging on deck under a pleasantly warm sun. Though rough weather and a busy life at sea often made writing aboard ship an extremely frustrating experience, Sproston's native composure and literary talent proved to be more than a match for the challenge. -- from dust jacket.