ich I do not know. He had the rigidity and
precision of a soldier's carriage, to a degree unusual to a naval
officer of his period. This may have been due partly to early
training, but still more, I think, in his case, was an outcome and
evidence of personal character; for, though kindly and just, he was
essentially a martinet. He had been further presented to me,
colloquially, by my old friend the boatswain of the _Congress_, some
of whose shrewd comments I have before quoted, and who had sailed with
him as a captain. "Oh! what a proud man he was!" he would say. "He
would walk up and down the poop, looking down on all around,
thus"--and the boatswain would compress his lips, throw back his
shoulders, and inflate his chest; the walk he could not imitate
because he had a stiff knee. Bell's pride, however it may have seemed,
was rather professional than personal. He was thorough and exact,
with high standards and too little give. An officer entirely
respectable and respected, though not brilliant.

Upon the funeral of our wrecked seamen followed a dispersion of the
squadron. The _Hartford_ and _Shenandoah_, both bound home, departed,
leaving the _Oneida_ and _Iroquois_ to "hold the fort." Conditions
soon became such that it seemed probable we might have to carry out
that precept somewhat literally. This was the period of the overthrow
of the Tycoon's power by the revolt of the great nobles, among whom
the most conspicuous in leadership were Chiosiu and Satsuma; names
then as much in our mouths as those of Grant, Sherman, and Lee had
been three years before. Hostilities were active in the neighborhood
of Osaka and Kobe, the Tycoon being steadily worsted. So far as I give
any account, depending upon some old letters of that date, it will be
understood to present, not sifted historical truth, but the current
stories of the day, which to me have always seemed to possess a real
value of their own, irrespective of their exactness. For example, the
reports repeated by Nelson at Leghorn of the happenings during
Bonaparte's campaign of 1796 in upper Italy, though often inaccurate,
represent correctly an important element of a situation.
Misapprehension, when it exists, is a factor in any circumstances,
sometimes of powerful influence. It is part of the data governing the
men of the time.

While a certain number of foreigners, availing themselves of the
treaty, were settling for business in Kobe, a large proportion had
gone to O